A new year may mean a new phone. With so many choices out there how do you find the right one? We've done some research and found three of the top new Android phones on the market. We looked at screen size, memory, processor speed and even battery life. You won't be able to get all the features you want in a single phone but with these you'll come close. And, once you choose make sure to price compare. Many phone companies have special promotions going at the beginning of the new year. Read on to find out all the latest about the Google Pixel, the Samsung Galaxy S7, and the OnePlus 3T.
The OnePlus 3T leads the pack in this department with its 5.5-inch optic AMOLED display. The Pixel comes in last with their 5-inch display. However, if you have small hands even the smallest of the bunch can be difficult to control. Make sure to hold the new phone before you buy one. All of them share comparable resolution, which is to say stunning.
Once again OnePlus takes the lead with impressive 6GB of RAM onboard. The other two pale in comparison with only 4GB. How does this translate into performance, you might ask? Streaming videos and games rely on borrowing memory from your phone to buffer. The less RAM, the less buffering and more of those annoying little circles. The extra 2GB provides enough space for upgrades to operating systems and apps without impacting performance.
Both the Samsung and Google phones start with 32GB of memory available for your apps, music and images. The OnePlus features 64GB. However, the Galaxy S7 can expand useable memory up to 200GB. But that is extra cost and the removable SD cards are easy to lose. All three can expand onboard memory up to 128GB, leaving no leader in this category.
These top-rated cells all have both front and rear facing cameras. The OnePlus (yes, you are seeing a pattern here) has a very nice 16mp camera front and rear. The Samsung only provides a 12mp rear camera--which isn't shabby--and a 5mp one for the front. This can result in grainy and pixelated selfies. The Google Pixel splits the difference with a 12mp rear and 8mp front for nice images.
All three have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor on board, so displays of fast action phone games will appear much the same on one as another. Apps will open and close at about the same speed. However, they are the latest on seen so you will see a bump up in performance when trading in your old phone.
Samsung replaced the faulty lithium ion batteries in all their products with a safe and reliable new version. That being said, the Samsung battery is the largest out of the three, so the user will enjoy more play time between charging sessions. They even made the case a little thicker to accommodate the new battery. However, the Google and OnePlus batteries are only slightly less powerful.
Only the Samsung features a removable micro SD card. Using it you have additional storage space available for images, videos and other documents you might be sharing on your portable office. However, SD cards are not much bigger than the tip of a fingernail, so are terribly easy to lose. Larger cards are available for use with tablets and laptops, which is probably a better use for this portable memory solution.
Surprisingly, only the Google Pixel and OnePlus 3T are delivered to the consumer with Nougat up and running. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge both arrive with Marshmallow. And, why is this? The S7 was rushed into production to cover the gap from the S6 battery debacle. But don't worry, it will update to Nougat once the phone is activated.